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Every dealership has its version of “everything’s fine.” It’s usually said just after someone asks a financial question that doesn’t have an immediate answer. The phones are ringing, the sales team is caffeinated, and the service dept has customers in the drive. On the surface, it looks like a well-oiled machine. But behind the office doors there are several months of unreconciled bank statements, …
Continue Reading about The Warning Signs of a Dealership Financial Crisis →
If you’re in the car business, you better like math. I was watching the latest episode of The Fixer. The owner of one of the businesses being considered made a comment when asked about his numbers: “That’s why we have you here, we’re not good with math.” As you can imagine, that answer didn’t go over very well. The host's response was quick and blunt: “That’s one of the worst answers you could’ve …
Continue Reading about Why Dealership Leaders Must Learn to Love the Numbers →
When I walk into a dealership for the first time, I never know what I’m going to find. Sometimes there’s a friendly receptionist and a fresh pot of coffee. Other times, it’s a makeshift accounting office in what used to be the broom closet, where the “controller” is a former parts runner with a R+R login. But one thing is consistent: money - lots of it- is moving. Every day. In and out. …
Continue Reading about The Joys of Internal Controls for Franchise Dealerships →
Over the years, I’ve noticed a persistent misunderstanding in the dealership world: the tendency to dismiss the accounting office as a “cost center.” You’ll hear it in meetings, on the showroom floor, and see it in budget reviews—this idea that if you’re not selling something, you’re costing something. It’s a tidy narrative. Unfortunately, like most tidy narratives, it leaves out the messy …
